An Arizona legislator wants voters to decide whether school sports are designated male, female or co-ed.
The Protect Girls’ Sports in Arizona Act (HCR2003) is from state Rep. Selina Bliss, R-Prescott. Bliss said it reinstates and strengthens the Save Women’s Sports Act of 2022 (Senate Bill 1165), which bans transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports. Implementation of SB1165 has been delayed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“What my ballot referral will do to complement that is to expand the provisions of SB1165 by including all schools and sports associations, so there’s the difference,” Bliss told The Center Square. “It gets it out of the legal court tie up, which is supposed to be determined next year, but it takes it straight to the voters to take care of this once and for all.”
It also helps Arizona’s Republican-controlled Legislature avoid a possible veto by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Republicans don’t have enough seats to override her vetoes.
“We have a slim majority of Republicans in the House and Senate, but we have a Democrat in the governor’s seat, so the only way to get around the governor is to go straight to the ballot,” Bliss told The Center Square. “There’s two ways: A legislative referendum, which is what this is, to put it on the ballot, or a citizens’ initiative to put a citizens’ petition on the ballot.”
The ballot referral from Bliss would need approval in the House and Senate, something she believes she has at this time. If the Legislature approves the measure, the issue will go before voters in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election.
But how would it work exactly?
“You need a birth certificate if there’s doubt of the gender,” Bliss told The Center Square. “It would designate, not divide, sports teams as male, female and co-ed, so a biological male could compete in a male sport or a co-ed sport, but not a female sport.”
Schools, both public and private, would be responsible for taking care of all the designations. Bliss said there is no change there, adding that is how schools currently do those things.
Bliss noted she felt motivated to work on the referendum because she was an athlete in middle school and high school.
“Not only did it build my self-esteem and confidence, but it (sports) helped with potentially getting scholarships,” Bliss told The Center Square. “It is a competitive area to start with, female athletics, so the idea of allowing bio males to compete on female teams just makes it that much more challenging.”
Bliss was also a Girl Scout leader and volunteered as a coach for her daughter’s volleyball team.
“So I saw what it was like to have male and female sports at the school and to be an active participant in that, and I just want to support our kids like I was supported, and I supported my daughter as well, and her friends,” she said.
Bliss added she learned early on from athlete-turned-activist Riley Gaines, the former University of Kentucky swimmer that has been speaking against efforts allowing transgender athletes in female sports. Gaines visited Arizona, where lawmakers passed the Save Women’s Sports Act.
“Judge Jennifer Zipps, in Tucson, heard a case that is tied up in the 9th Circuit on a pair of siblings, biological males that enrolled in a female sports team,” said Bliss. “So it is definitely an issue with our growing population, so it is time to address this issue with transparency, and that is what it is. It is just to be transparent as a parent when you enroll your child in a sports team, you are indicating I want my child to be on a female or male or co-ed team.”
The Center Square reached out to the Human Rights Campaign and did not receive a response. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona said it was closed until Jan. 5.
